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Day 164 of 280 · 23 weeks + 3 days

Gestational diabetes, on one page

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 8 sources · Plain-text version

Twenty-three weeks and three days. Before the glucose test, one calm page: what gestational diabetes is, when you're tested, and how most women manage it.

Size this week
about the size of a large mango
Length this week
around 28.9 cm from head to heel
A Middle Eastern woman in a loose linen shirt with a clear bump writing on a single sheet of paper at a cafe table by a window, a glass of water and a half-eaten apple beside her.

Twenty-three weeks and three days. The glucose test is a few weeks off. Today you write one page about the thing it looks for, so the word stops sounding bigger than it is.

Your baby

One large ripe mango on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around 28.9cm long from head to heel, about the size of a large mango, with limbs now in proportion (NHS). Your baby is practising breathing and developing sleep and wake patterns (NHS).

Your body

Gestational diabetes can develop during pregnancy in women who didn't already have diabetes. It usually develops around the 24th week and often causes no symptoms, which is why testing matters (CDC). The risk factors include having had it before, a previous baby weighing over 9 pounds, being overweight, a family history of type 2 diabetes, and PCOS (CDC).

If it's found, most women control their blood sugar with a healthy meal plan; some also need insulin (OWH). It matters because babies of mothers with gestational diabetes tend to be larger, which raises the chance of a birth injury or a C-section (MedlinePlus). Blood sugar often returns to normal after delivery (MedlinePlus), but about half of women who had gestational diabetes later develop type 2 diabetes (CDC), so follow-up continues for years afterwards (MedlinePlus).

Try today

  1. The gestational-diabetes page

    Time: 10 minutes

    1. At the top of a page, write what it is in one line: high blood sugar that starts in pregnancy, usually around 24 weeks, often with no symptoms (MedlinePlus; CDC).

    2. Underneath, write when you'll be tested: typically between 24 and 28 weeks (CDC), plus your own date once you have it.

    3. Then write how it's usually handled: most women manage with a meal plan, some need insulin (OWH). If you're diagnosed, ask your care team for help with meal planning (MedlinePlus).

    4. At the bottom, one question for your provider. Keep the page with your appointment notes.

    Make it work:

    One page, not a research project. If you find yourself reading forums at midnight, close them and look at your page instead.

Watch for

  • Normal

    indigestion and heartburn, on this stage's symptom list (NHS).

    Seek urgent care

    for burning chest pain with squeezing or pressure, or vomit that is bloody or looks like coffee grounds (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    tiredness that sleep or a nap helps (NHS).

    Call your provider

    for overwhelming tiredness; it's on the CDC's urgent warning list (CDC).

  • Normal

    feeling hot (NHS).

    Call your provider

    for a fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher (CDC).

For you

One thing not to do, whatever you've read: don't try to lose weight while you're pregnant. The CDC says some weight gain is needed for a healthy baby, and to ask your doctor how much to gain (CDC).

If you're the partner: if a diagnosis comes, a meal plan is easier for a household than for one person. Eat what she eats.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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